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Anthony M. Greene

My Top 10 Movie Going Experiences of 2024

I am so happy to report that 2024 has been a stellar year for me as a movie-goer. Being able to venture out and catch a variety of films after the post Covid drought has really re-connected me to one of my loves: the experience of going to the movies. And I promise that I made the most of this year’s offerings, even venturing out for repeat viewings of films that moved me or that I found curious enough to revisit. I wanted to be certain of the work presented. The following list is not a “best of” for the sake of critique. Art is very subjective to me now, and I find myself not in favor of being objective concerning film. I am now more interested in sharing the personal connections that I derive from the medium. With that in mind, films from some of my favorite directors “Civil War”, “Nosferatu”, or other movies that I really enjoyed, “Wicked”, “Flow”, “Mars Express” may not make the list. What does make this list is interpersonal insight and recognition of which movies moved me the most on the big screen in 2024.

Sing Sing

directed by Greg Kwedar

Although my compilation is not planned to be presented in a “top ten” fashion, I have to first dive in to my absolute favorite film of the year. Sing Sing focuses on a group of incarcerated men at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison who participate in a theater program aimed at rehabilitation. It is a film about the human spirit and the transformative powers of art and creativity, presenting the duality of those that society has deemed “the worst of us”.

The participants are mostly black and brown men, and to watch them open their arms and embrace the arts while cultivating a sense of purpose, brotherhood, love, and hope affected me deeply. You don’t get to see black and brown men smile much on the big screen. Seeing these men (some who are actual participants in the program) come together and create a bond through art was a wonder for me to behold. In all truthfulness, black and brown men do not need to be incarcerated to feel like America’s burden. As we grow older, we feel the need to assimilate or self-destruct. Our joy and whimsy succumb to the veil of machismo and outward distinctions of what we are supposed to be. The phrase “be a man” is damning, because the charge is subjective to the individual demanding it. To see black and brown men in their own element finding their joy while shedding societal induced machismo in a setting that we tend to believe necessitates macho behavior, reassured me that connecting with those parts of our humanness is essential to our being. We are beloved. And it’s okay to speak, treat, and revere each other in that essence.

One more thing, Clarence Macklin is the truth. He held more than his own with Coleman Domingo as the two central characters in the film, and his raw presence granted the grounding that made the story so accessible and real.

Salute.

Emilia Pérez

directed by Jacques Audiard

Emilia Pérez offers the best movie synopsis of the year. The film is a French musical crime comedy film about a cartel leader who enlists an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake his death so that she can finally live authentically as her true self. Although the incendiary synopsis may pique the interest of “art house” spectators and turn off more conservative minded viewers, the film itself rewards with a multitude of layers. I am still reeling from the juggling act of socio-political critique, “trans liberation”, redemption, reckoning, and love. It’s all in there, and as I was confronted with such a myriad epic punched up with masterful filmmaking technique and craft, I couldn’t help becoming enraptured watching this on a big screen.

And, yes, the film is also a musical. Those elements are interspersed well enough that they don’t overstep the narrative and are used to great effect throughout. One standout moment that anchors the blending of the musicality and story arc is “Papa” sung by Juan Pablo Monterrubio & Karla Sofía Gascón. This is where the film shifts gears and humanizes a predicament concerning trans liberation and parenthood that I as a straight black man never even fathomed or contemplated what the decision to live authentically could mean to those you love, especially your children.

As Americans, and maybe even abroad, we are constantly being told what to think and how to feel from institutions with ulterior motives. When the approach is to vilify and not understand, we lose the privilege of dialogue, connection, and tolerance. Although Emilia Pérez didn’t challenge my personal ideals, it’s story deepened my empathy for many issues that are not readily my own to face. The seemingly epidemic plight of missing persons in Mexico due to cartel violence is horrendous. To watch a transitioned cartel leader seek redemption by setting up an organization to help find missing persons resonated with me. The idea gave me hope. Even more hopeful was witnessing the love that stemmed from that altruistic act of redemption.

Emilia Pérez is indeed a journey that gives its incredible leads enough substance and exposition where their already accomplished resumes may only need this one film to understand just how capable they are at commanding attention on the big screen. It deserves its praise and more views.

Late Night With the Devil

directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes

I have a soft spot for supernatural horror. The films where it’s not about how to survive, but how much you can endure before the inevitable. We tend to minimize the inevitability of life, and in doing so we leave ourselves open to succumb to manifestations of psychological tortures. David Dastmalchian’s performance in Late Night With the Devil puts my humble musing on clear display. Yes, the ill-fated Halloween episode of the Night Owl program was filled with inventive shocks to appease the vast majority of horror film enthusiasts, but the real draw for me was the late night show host losing his grip due to his own guilt and career climbing greed.

The 1977 set design, funk band, and real time frenetic energy combined seamlessly to make this film a unique experience. I found myself just as intrigued with the conversations and debates about the existence of supernatural phenomena as I did when the actual phenomena showed its teeth. Although LNWTD is not a perfect film, it is solid and begs for repeat viewings. There are many elements interspersed throughout the film to add to the Night Owl lore and may be fun to expand upon in the future.

The cast is strong with Dastmalchian as the lead, and in a balanced and fair world, his name would make the rounds during awards season for his performance. It is unfortunate that the industries’ decision makers continue to denigrate the expert craftsmanship on display in modern horror. Along with LNWTD, this year’s performances in The Substance, Oddity, Nosferatu and other offerings have stood out as exemplary approaches to storytelling. The genre continually being treated as a niche without prestige is an injustice to the creatives who do so much to push these films further. In Late Night With the Devil, the design team, direction, and David Dastmalchain’s efforts continue to solidify the genre as more than what some perceive horror films to be.

Tuesday

directed by Daina O. Pusić

I’ll be honest. The only reason that Tuesday is not my favorite film of 2024 is that Sing Sing spoke directly to the core of the race and gender that I identify with, and I rarely have that experience at the movie theater. Tuesday spoke to my spirit. I recently witnessed my mother tend to my grandmother who had been suffering from dementia, and so much of the psychological and emotional impact of caretaking for a loved one was laid bare in this fantastical film. Tuesday is about a mother and her terminally ill daughter who are guided by Death in coping for the inevitable. The imagery of this film on the big screen is enough to warrant its merits, showcasing Death as a talking bird that can grow and shrink at will.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ turn as Zora, the loving, protective, and over burdened mother of Tuesday, contains a multitude of nuance. As Zora battles through her anger, fear, and denial while confronting Death, we see the actualized visage of the harm we do to ourselves and our loved ones when we are just not ready to let go. Contextualized, Tuesday is the cinematic embodiment of our greatest fears realized and presented to us as folklore. It is very difficult to understand that a part of loving is letting go, and there may be just as much grief for those leaving as for those who stay behind. To put it simply, Tuesday moved me and the message stuck. It is a balm for the frustration and bitterness that comes with facing the inevitable, and its existence as a work of art should be thought of as connective tissue making the unfortunate reality of our being relatable no matter our personal identifiers.

Love Lies Bleeding

directed by Rose Glass

I’m very fond of love stories. And Love Lies Bleeding delivers in its gritty dysfunctional surrealism, a unique and icky tale of two damaged misfits navigating their respective downward spirals while attaining one of our must elusive yet basic needs. Rose Glass follows up her low key superior supernatural horror Saint Maud with this tale of a reclusive gym manager who falls for an ambitious bodybuilder heading through town in pursuit of her dream of competing in Vegas. But, due to the nature of jealousy, dysfunction, and downright evil, their love ignites violence, wreaking havoc on the thinly held together family of Lou, the gym manager played by deceptively apathetic Kristen Stewart.

Love Lies Bleeding’s greatest triumph is that it doesn’t bother with explanation and/or purpose. Its universe, although grounded in reality, is in itself fantastical. The violence and carnage that bursts through the screen with as much intensity as its sex scenes can be attributed to the same surrealism that presents the metaphorical “roid rage” of Lou’s bodybuilding love interest Jacky.

Love Lies Bleeding is a movie that I wouldn’t care to label. Yes, I see it as a love story which is more about recognizing the contextual make up of the story arc, but it is so much more. It delves into an array of niche elements and delivers enough on those niches that at any given time while viewing, you can pull from those identifiers and call this concentrated work of art just that. The film also shows the continued importance of supporting filmmakers who happen to be women. Here is rare a display of nimble balance between the macabre and emotional delicacies that most often only women can deliver. A film with such adult themes, visceral images, surrealism ingrained in authenticity and emotion is well worth my time. Love Lies Bleeding was the masterfully stuffed surprise that I didn’t see coming.

The Book of Clarence

directed by Jeymes Samuel

Let’s talk about surprises that I didn’t see coming. Before watching The Book of Clarence, I had written off its ambitiously self indulgent director/writer Jeymes Samuel as an established creative who worked hard enough to get access to the tools, but became so caught up in star power and style that substance was an arm shrugged after thought as long as the forced aspect of colorism was on full display. I reluctantly caught a matinee of his latest, The Book of Clarence, mainly because I believe that Lakeith Stanfield should have an audience and I miss his aloof yet all knowing waiflike presence in Atlanta. And let me tell you, I eyerolled and scoffed for at least the first 20 minutes of this film.

So why is The Book of Clarence on this list?

Because I was wrong.

There is a turning point in the film where the forced comedic aspects lightened up and the beautiful black people on screen were delivering a passionately acted exploration on what it meant to be “good”. Not just in the biblical sense, but it in a worldly sense where being an advocate for hope, peace and empathy could literally get you crucified. The film burrowed into the spiritual aspects of Christianity while not succumbing to the religious confines of pretend piousness. Underneath the pomp and circumstance, Samuel had something to say and Stanfield (adeptly playing dual roles) was a more than capable messenger. If I had attempted my first viewing of this film in the comfort of my own home, my prejudicial behavior would have kept me from realizing the beauty this film has to offer. That would have been my loss.

The Book of Clarence also contains one of my favorite scenes on the big screen this year; “The Nights Over Egypt” sequence is one of the most beautiful, blackest moments caught on film in 2024. Hearing the intro to the Jones Girl’s 1981 jazzy funk single while the characters danced in unison, characterizing the coupling of Stanfield’s Clarence with his on screen paramour Varinia (Anna Diop) gifted me a soulful mix of Luhrmann’s fish tank sequence in Romeo and Juliet and Spike Lee’s show-stopping death of disco dance sequence featuring Leguizamo and Sorvino in Summer of Sam. The moment was so raw in its unpolished, fleeting delivery, yet it was a beautifully life affirming invitation to join in the joy of blackness and show our people in a light that was not dim from struggle and strife. Once revisited, The Book of Clarence definitely has merit. It is expertly produced, courageously acted, confidently directed and worthy of more attention. Samuel has a new fan.

The Apprentice

directed by Ali Abassi

There are many reasons why people stayed away from this film in the theaters. None of those reasons will ever be good enough to not support the incredible work on display in The Apprentice. The film is an incredible treatise on how one polarizing figure can effect and be reborn as an even more polarizing figure. The Apprentice tells the story of how a young Donald Trump started his real-estate business in 1970s and ’80s New York with the helping hand of infamous lawyer Roy M. Cohn. Regardless what some may feel about Jeremy Strong’s approach and technique to his craft, what he accomplishes on screen as the seedy, slime glistened Roy Cohn is a master class in embodying a public figure and regurgitating his likeness to propel a narrative to its utmost potential.

The film in itself spares us the political aspirations of DJT, instead offering a front row seat to a young, unconfident Trump grasping at making something of himself and finding a teacher and protector in Cohn. We see Trump’s metamorphosis as he soaks in Cohn’s influence, and watch on edge as the dynamic of their relationship changes, revealing the sparks that ignited the version of DJT that we have become familiar with. Aside from the relatability and on-screen validations of rumors or anecdotes that we’ve heard about, The Apprentice is simply damn good storytelling. The idea that the subjects presented are real people that we can look up and fact check only adds to just how good the story and performances are. Without the real world implications, the film would be just as involving if it was all made up.

Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of DJT is earnest, approachable and bereft of satire or incrimination. There are moments when I actually felt empathy for DJT and understood where his faults aligned with an America that would champion him for being less empathetic and more callous to attain status and fame. Strong also left the door open for empathy for Cohn, not just playing him evil for evil’s sake, but showing how the success of playing dirty can be rewarded with loneliness and dejection. There is a lot to unpack here on a psychological level. These two men are naturally products of their environment and America contains societal imperfections that laude their behavior for better or worse.

It is incredibly easily to vilify them, maybe just as easy as it is to point fingers instead of doing the unified work needed to disrupt and alter the system that created them.

Luther: Never Too Much

directed by Dawn Porter

This is my selfish pick. My “I don’t care what you say” pick. This was my movie day with my mom. Luther: Never Too Much is a glorious and intimate celebration into one of the greatest singer, songwriters of both of our generations. Posthumously, Luther Vandross is the heart of his own biopic, permeating throughout the anecdotes, praises and fond memories by the people his music and presence effected during his life. Every laugh, smile and groove is a mirrored testament to his existence and director Dawn Porter catches those attributes with earnestness and care, not letting tabloid gossip or rumors deride the celebration.

This is not to say that the film lacks transparency or falsely presents Vandross as a man without flaws, rather the film acknowledges them with respect while staying resolute in his celebration.

It’s a shame that there weren’t more people going to see the film. Films that entertain, educate, and uplift need to make money so that investors are apt to partake in producing more fare such as this. To witness Luther Vandross’ celebration, learning of his work and influence in the music industry while he dealt with interpersonal battles with his image and love life is an endearing journey with a damn good soundtrack. I’m looking forward to seeing it again. My mother had the tendency to sing the songs pretty loud and off key during our first viewing.

Love you, mom.

Joker: Folie à Deux

directed by Todd Phillips

I was initially uninterested in seeing Todd Phillips Joker sequel. I was tepid on the first film. For some reason it didn’t resonate with me. Ultimately, I brushed it off as another one of those films that the masses dug and that I couldn’t personally connect with. Once the universal fanboy panning of Joker: Folie à Deux begun, I became intrigued.

I wondered why a second helping of gritty 70’s Gotham would elicit such a disdain, especially if the sequel pretty much offered more of the same that sold so many tickets no so long ago?

I went to see Joker: Folie à Deux in Imax. The theater was completely empty as I had the only pair of eyes watching the film unfold during this particular viewing. And, I’m not sure if there is something to say about the singular experience of being immersed into a film, but I found Joker: Folie à Deux to be a revelation. Not only did the film excel at heightening the narrative of Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, but it helped me understand what I missed during the first offering and why I was so unimpressed with it.

Arthur Fleck was never my Joker.

I had come to expect a Joker who was unhinged and hellbent on chaos and mayhem for the sake of chaos and mayhem. My Joker was a man who wanted to “watch the world burn” without rhyme or reason, and at the end of Joker, I did not see my Joker. I saw Arthur Fleck. So when Joker: Folie à Deux validates that Arthur Fleck and his mental break only confirmed the inception of the idea of Joker and that the films were about the construction and deconstruction of a seemingly decent man driven to rage by society and applauded for it, only to realize that the things he craved could only be attained if he wore the make-up and stayed a madman, I was beyond elated.

There is depth to be mined here.

Arthur Fleck’s actions spawned a movement of anti-establishment cultism that his most fervent followers don’t have the ability to fully understand the genesis of. The down trodden and damaged just wanted an iconic symbol to believe in, and Fleck’s Joker persona became just that. Even more dangerous than his followers, is the potential love interest with Gaga’s Lee. The deceptive intimate relationship offered breathes technicolor and hope into Fleck’s world evoking psychotic spells where he internally expresses his musings in song reminiscent of olden Hollywood musical numbers. So, when Fleck decides that he doesn’t want to be Joker and wants to face his crimes as himself, the actual Joker, My Joker, is born.

The final scene should go down in history as one of the most significant moments in comic book cinema, right up there with Endgame’s “On you right..” Unfortunately, most will not give this film its due, because the puzzle pieces don’t fit their ideal of who their Joker is, even though Arthur Fleck wasn’t their Joker either.

I will say this about the musical elements, if you’ve had the privilege of watching Lars Von Trier’s 2000 film Dancer In The Dark which eschewed the modality of what movie musicals are meant to be, you’d understand that Phillip’s approach here is not that incendiary. Was it a bold choice? Yes. Was it absolutely necessary? Maybe not. Does the film being labeled a musical really deserve the negative responses garnered even from those who didn’t watch the movie? I would say no. Most of these folks detracting the approach were real happy with Blacks and Latinos on stage rapping while portraying former slave masters. Seriously, get over yourselves. Joker: Folie à Deux had me in the room where it happened.

I got to see the birth of my Joker.

Conclave

directed by Edward Berger

Okay, I’m off my soapbox. And this quietly poignant, suspenseful, and expertly crafted film is the perfect segue to speak on what really made this year special. In 2024, the films offered started to take strides in thought provoking adult fare that weren’t just regulated to streaming release dates. For a short while, the cinema was banking on tentpoles, blockbusters, and niche genre films to bring us back to the theater. Now we have directors who are starting to fight against shorter theatrical release windows. We have some directors calling foul on the absence of physical media. More importantly, the adult contemporary film is returning to theaters. The incredibly engaging and superbly acted Conclave is one of those films.

Conclave is the story of a reluctant cardinal tasked with leading one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events, selection of a new Pope. In doing so, he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church. Conclave is a film where words are daggers and tension pulsates, expanding across the scenes and making the premise more intriguing until its final frame. The cast is worth the watch alone, and Berger’s direction is pretty much flawless, handling the pace of such a dialogue driven piece so well, that no minute is felt wasted. The biggest draw for this on the big screen is the impeccable production design. The Papacy is abundant with jewels, costumes, pageantry, and stunning architecture. The recreation of these elements are noteworthy.

I was gleefully engaged with the suspense and intrigue playing out in the film, participating as an onlooker shifting alliances and garnering disdain for characters who made choices that sullied my support for them. Conclaveis a fun watch. Thought provoking, minutely scandalous, and interestingly concentrated on what is right and just for the soul and comfort of mankind. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to support it.

There are other films that stand out for me this year. Two that come to mind are Memories of a Snail and The Wild Robot. They both surprised me with their earnestness and bittersweet stories. One considerably adult and the other more family oriented, they both excelled well at delivering messages of family, love, and endurance. Of course, I can poke the keyboard for hours about what I’ve seen and how the experience resonated with me. Instead, I’d like to take this moment to thank you for reading this. And if you’ve seen any of these movies, thank you for watching them. Even if you don’t agree, we have something in common. And that is what matters.

Also, please go to the movies every once in a while if you don’t already. I’d hate to see theaters become a thing of the past. We should approach going to the movies like a concert or a book reading from a favorite author. It should be a communal experience. One thing that we are letting slip away is that feeling of community. I’m not asking you to join the tribe. Just partake a little when you feel the desire to. There are wondrous works of art to be seen.


Again, thanks for reading.


Anthony

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